Paranoid
by irislim
Summary: Harry has a stalker, and he recruits his best friends to help him figure out if it is who he suspects it is. A Harry/Ginny story.


"Harry, I don't think it's her!"

"But look, Hermione!" Harry opens his palms to reveal the crumpled note. It's written in calligraphy, therefore masking the person's handwriting, but a few words are clearly visible. "Green eyes. Fresh-pickled toad. Don't those words ring a bell?"

"That was four years ago. Ginny doesn't think that way about you any more."

"And you're so sure about that."

"She was dating Michael just a month ago!"

"So?"

"Harry!" Hermione spins on her heels. Anger flares in her eyes. "I honestly think it is _way _above Ginny to stalk you now. She's your friend too. And she _knows _fifth year is a beast. She won't pull something this childish."

"But if you compare the words - "

"It's _obviously_ a copycat." Hermione shudders, like she can't deal with his stupidity right now. "And if you still don't believe me, ask her! It's not like she blushes and runs away from you nowadays."

No, she doesn't blush or run away from him anyway. If anything, she's far _too _comfortable with him - often sitting next to him in the common room, clapping him on the back whenever they finish a good Quidditch practice session.

If Harry thinks hard enough, he knows Ginny won't need to resort to secret love messages if she wants to make a move. They're friendly enough and together enough for her to just, maybe, hug him very fiercely one day.

But to conclude that she _could _make a move a different way would be to conclude that she is _choosing _not to make a move a different way.

And Harry doesn't exactly like the sound of that.

* * *

"Hey, Hermione." Harry grabs her by the elbow after Charms. He waits until Ron is far enough away. "I got another thing from my stalker."

"Sure." The top student wrangles her arm out of his grasp. She touches her elbow like it hurts. "Whatever you have to say, you can say in front of Ron, you know."

"But it's his sister."

"For the last time, _Harry Potter_, I _don't _think it's Ginny!"

"What about Ginny?" Ron is back, all round eyes and curious smile.

Harry shuffles. "I - I think she sent me a gift."

"But it's not your birthday."

"Tell me about it."

"It's not Ginny." Hermione all but stomps her foot. "Harry here is being an idiot. He has a stalker, and he has the audacity to assume that it's Ginny."

"But Ginny doesn't like him - "

"Doesn't like me that way anymore. I know the drill," Harry interrupts. This conversation is frankly getting a little irritating. "But, look - it's a hand-drawn picture of me on my Firebolt. Who else but someone on the Quidditch team would do that?"

"Because it's _such a big secret _that you play Quidditch." Hermione sighs.

"Now you're just being mean." Harry frowns.

"She just means that it can be anyone, Harry," Ron pipes in. "Besides, if someone _wants _to draw a picture of you on your Firebolt, it's actually a lot easier to do that sitting in the stands rather than flying next to you."

"That makes _perfect _sense, Ron," Hermione gushes. And Harry's two best friends look at each other with very adoring eyes.

It's all so nauseating.

And it's not as if Ron made _that _much sense.

Harry clears his throat. "So who can it be if it isn't Ginny?"

Ron and Hermione snap out of their trance.

Ron shrugs. "It could be anyone, really. But it's not like it's _that _bothersome, right? Just let it be. Some girl will get over her crush soon enough, like Ginny did."

For some reason, the logic in Ron's words isn't quite _that _comforting.

* * *

"Ron! Hermione!" Harry yells.

It's Sunday morning, and his lying in has resulted in a very unpleasant surprise.

"Who would even - " Ron starts, before he doubles over in laughter.

"It's not funny!"

Hermione runs into the room. "Harry, why are you screaming at the top of your - "

_Then_, she starts laughing too.

"It's not funny!" Harry groans desperately.

The glitter confetti spelling his name on the sides of his canopy bed seem to disagree, as far as his friends are concerned.

"The weather is spectacular. Almost everyone is out. Who could have come in?" Harry laments. "Girls don't sneak in here unnoticed."

"Unless it was a boy?" Ron is _still _laughing, quite hard.

"That is just silly," Hermione, for all her rebuking, is grinning as well. "This could easily have been done with a charm."

"A charm?"

"All a person would need to do is to slip something in during the day."

"But we were with Ginny all day yesterday," Harry counters.

"It's not Ginny!" Ron and Hermione roar.

And Harry finds out he would rather just let his friends laugh instead.

* * *

"Harry."

He furries his brow and buries himself further in his book. He is not in the mood to talk. He is not in the mood to talk to _her_ \- not after fighting his extremely conflicting feelings all day.

"Harry." The voice intensifies.

He sighs and gives up.

"Yes, Ginny?" He looks up just in time to see her leaning over him. Her red hair frames her face like a doll's. Her eyes are fiery - attractive.

He swallows.

"Did you seriously suspect _me_?" Her arms are crossed. He's suddenly realizing that she's coming to him angry, not passionate.

"What do you mean?" He sits up. He will deny this to the end of the age. He will never admit that he -

"_I am not your stalker_!" She growls, leaning closer still.

He can smell her shampoo. He can fell the warmth radiating off her shoulders.

She looks pretty in this jumper.

"I never said - "

"That's not what I heard from Ron and Hermione!" She pulls away abruptly when she straightens. Harry wishes he saw it coming.

"I mean, Ginny, I never - "

"That valentine was the _worst _idea I ever had!" She groans loudly, her eyes looking helplessly upwards before rolling back down again. "But that was _once_, Harry, _once. _And I am not interested in being your greatest fan anymore!"

She throws her hands up in the air before whirling around and stalking away.

"Ginny!" Harry scurries to his feet. He runs around the couch and towards her. "Ginny, wait! I never said - "

"Am I nothing more to you than a fan to you?" She turns around when he reaches her. There's a softness to her voice now. He even thinks there is some moisture in her eyes. "Harry - "

"No, no - you're not."

She's standing so close that he wishes he had the courage to reach for her.

But he doesn't - so much for being a Gryffindor.

"Look, Ginny," he starts hesitantly. "I've been wanting to say that - "

"Hey, Gin!" The group of fourth years holler for her from the center of the common room. "You coming?"

She looks at her friends. Harry does too.

In the middle of the group, a tiny Rosemary Kilmore blushes to the roots of her hair.

It's exactly what Ginny used to do.

"I'm sorry, Harry. I think I - have to go," Ginny mutters.

"Mm hmm." And he watches her prance away.

* * *

"Just talk to her, Harry!"

"I don't think she's still upset."

"Maybe she'll actually listen."

"You _do _owe my sister an apology."

Ron and Hermione's warnings whirl in his head as he walks over to the girl snuggled against the tree. She's chosen a good spot to study - secluded and shaded, with a pretty view of the lake. She curls her lips the way she does when she gets to a confusing passage.

Harry clears his throat.

She looks up.

"Harry."

"Ginny."

She looks down again, and he braces himself for either her friendliness or her anger. Then she scoots over, and he sits down on the grass beside her.

The wind dances gently across the surface of the lake.

"So I found my stalker," he says, a quiet moment later.

"Hermione told you, huh?"

"You - " She's smiling at him with a knowing smile. "_You _figured it out."

She shrugs. Her hair flows softly on her shoulders. "I had to clear my name somehow, didn't I?"

"Listen, Ginny, I'm _so _sorry for suspecting you."

She looks away, but she doesn't pull away.

"I - I should have believed Ron and Hermione. They said you were over me, and I just - I guess I - " Harry drifts off. In times like this, he's not even sure what he's trying to say.

But he tries.

He has to.

"I guess I - " He takes a deep, long breath before exhaling it. "I guess I was hoping it was you."

"You were hoping - you _what_?" She turns back to face him.

He feels silly, and he feels very, very exposed.

"I like you, Ginny. And I - I think I kept holding on to the idea that _maybe _you were my stalker not because I _feared _it was you as much as I _hoped _it was you."

"Harry," she says his name so softly he almost misses it.

"I know it's silly. And I know I'm a coward, and it was _incredibly _unfair of me to accuse you like that - behind your back too. I just - I'm sorry. I really am. And I hope that if you can find it in your magnanimous heart to forgive me - that maybe you'll give me a tiny bit of a chance to start treating you as something a little more than a friend."

Her eyes are fiery. They always are.

But, right now, they're a little tender too.

"Thank you for your apology, Harry."

"Of course."

"And as for that _other _thing."

He swallows the lump in his throat. "Yeah?"

Her lips lift slowly into a beautiful smile. "Why do you think Rosemary developed her crush?"

He frowns. He doesn't get it.

She chuckles softly. "I may have - been talking a bit too much about you, even now."

And then he gets it.

And he feels his own face morphing into a smile as well.

"Ginny."

"Yeah?"

"I think I've found a way to ward off all my stalkers."

"Alright."

"And, well - I figured - maybe if I had a girlfriend whom I spend all my time with, and, you know, maybe snog in public and sort of hold her hand all the time - that, maybe - that people would stop thinking I am, well - "

"Accessible?" She smiles at him.

He feels his heart broadening, feels his mouth smiling all on its own.

"Care to help me with that?"

"With what?"

"The girlfriend thing."

"Well, you are my friend," she answers.

He doesn't like how she says the word 'friend,' but he presses on with Gryffindor bravado. "And?"

"I suppose it would be mean of me to refuse." She tilts her head and smiles. "I do like to be helpful."

"I'm glad." And he leans down to kiss her, because he truly can't wait another moment more.

It's quiet and it's intimate. It wakes up every nerve in his body and makes his insides feel like a puddle of warmth.

When he pulls back to observe her, she just smiles and kisses him again.

It takes him all day, not until he walks hand-in-hand with Ginny back into the Gryffindor common room, to realize that he has little Rosemary Kilmore to thank.

* * *

_A/N: I hope you enjoyed this little one-shot!_


End file.
